SFDOG is a non-profit organization that promotes responsible dog ownership/guardianship, offers educational programs for both dog owners/guardians and the general public, and works for increased off-leash recreation opportunities for responsible dog owners/guardians and their canine companions.

SFDOG and other local dog and recreation groups celebrated today’s National Park Service announcement that it has permanently ended a planning and rulemaking process intended to restrict where you can walk with a dog in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA).

“This is a huge victory for the people of the Bay Area,” said Save Our Recreation’s Andrea Buffa. “For years we’ve been telling the Park Service that dog walking is an important form of recreation for us – it’s part of our way of life. Now, finally, they were forced to listen.”

Dog lovers tell the new Interior Secretary they won’t roll over and play dead in the face of Park Service efforts to restrict people and dogs from the popular recreation area.

July 18 – Bay Area dog and recreation groups have launched a petition calling on Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to keep recreational dog walking in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). More than 30,000 people have signed the petition, which was started two weeks ago on Care2 (“Secretary Zinke – Help save dog walking in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.”) People from all over the world have added their names, and many have written personal comments about the importance of keeping access for dog walking where it’s currently allowed on just 1% of GGNRA land.

The National Park Service is at it again. Just when we thought we might be able to walk with our dogs in the Golden Gate National Recreation area without constantly having to worry that the Park Service would take this activity away, they are moving to revive the dog rule for the GGNRA, hoping the new Secretary of the Interior won’t notice what they’re up to. It could happen as early as this summer.